Beverage case repair means



INVENTOR.

Haze/7 A. Gusfafson July 8, 1958 H. A. GUSTAFSON I BEVERAGE CASE REPAIR MEANS Filed July 25, 1955 United States Patent BEVERAGE CASE REPAIR MEANS:

Hazen A. Gustafson, Beloit, Kans. Application July 25, 1955, Serial No. 524,047

3 Claims. (Cl. 217-70) The-present inventionrelates, generally speaking; to a novel method and means of mending and repairing any wooden cellular-type box, case, crateor shell used, for example, in systematically storing and handling beverage bottles and has more particular reference to the structural means in that this is-such in construction: that it-' is susceptible of quick and easy utilizationand does not require the use of nails, screws or equivalent headed fasteners.

More particularly stated, the concept has to do "with novelly constructed sheet metal or equivalent blanks which are expeditiously stamped out in ready-to use, flat form and which are such in construction anddesignthat they/maybe readily bent and'fashioned into naill'ess devicesh'e'rein broadly treated as brackets, the latters'erv ing to brace and otherwise render against stress, strain and pressure.

Stated otherwise, the invention appertains to simple, practical and economical repairing and reinforcing brackets which function not only to maintain the'usual' partitions, but the side and end walls as well, which are capable of being applied in intended position with the use of a simple pair of pliers and which have'body portions or stays which may be arranged to serve as partition replacement members in a manner tosatisfactorily restore missing partitions and bottle-spacing cells.

'In carrying out the invention and interpreting. one phase thereof generically, it has to do with a new article of manufacture; namely, a fiatblank of bendable sheet material, zinc or sheet metal, for example, having .a relatively wide body portion-stamped andshaped so that the-lengthwise edge portions may be bent laterally to provide spaced parallel flanges and an interveningweb, said" blank having at least one attenuated coplanar extension at one end and an H-shaped member "at the outer end of said extension, the longlimbs of said member having their respective terminal ends cut to provide bendable anchoring prongs, said limbs being susceptibleof being bent upon themselves midway between their terminal ends to provide hold-down and partition straddling and embracing fingers.

the case-part firm Aside from the blank, novelty is predicated on the v aforementioned repair brackets comprising-"a sheet material structure characterized by at least one. body portion channel-shaped in cross-section and embodying spaced parallel flanges and an intervening connecting web, a relatively narrow coplanar extension projecting from one end of said body portion and having aHself-adapting clamp at its outer end, said clamp embodying pairs of partition straddling and embracingfingers lateral to said extension, the respective pairs of hold-down fingers being; spaced from each other and the fingers of each pair having pointed anchoring prongs directed inwardly toward each other.

Other objects, features and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description and the accompanying sheet of illustrative drawings.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the views:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the fragmentary portion of a cellular case or crate and illustrating the two similar but distinguishably different repair and reinforcing brackets and the manner in which they are constructed and used;

Figure 2 is an enlarged view in section and elevation taken approximately on the plane of the line 2--2 of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 3 is a plan view of the sheet metal blank or stamping used in forming the single-type repair bracket depicted in Figure 4;

Figure 4 is, therefore, a perspective view of thesingletype bracket formed from the blank depictedzin Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a plan view of the multipurpose. cruciform blank; and

Figure 6 is. a perspective view of the multipurpose cruciform repair reinforcing bracket which is, obviously; fashioned from the blankdepicted in Figure 5.

In Figures 1 and 2. the beverage bottle case is denoted generally by the numeral 8. This is suificientlyillus trated in Figure l to show that it. is a common. wooden case with cells defined by longitudinalpartitions .or die viders 10 and complemental transverse 'pantitionsr-ll These are connected together in any suitablem'anner'and; ofcourse, the case also includes. side, andIend; walls which 'are not shown and whichare alsocapablenoftbeing strengthened and repaired by the use of the-invention under consideration. As is already evident, therewisa single-type stamping or blank denoted by the-numeral 14 in Figure 3 which is used in c0nstructing:the corresponding single-type or simplified bracket 16 depictedrin Figure-4. This blank is struck outfromany: suitable alloy, metal or appropirate sheet-material: and ordinary sheet metal of zinc may well servethe needed end. It 'willsi-mplify the description, it is believed,..by. referring first tothe finished product in-Figure 4' wherein it will be'noted that the so-called horizontal bridging'and span.- ning component of the over-all. bracket is characterized centrally by what is herein defined .as a body: portion which is channel-shaped in cross-section; The fbody'pov tion is relatively wide' as seen in Figure 3 and is. comprehended asembodying a pair of spaced parallel lengths wise flanges 18 and an intervening connecting; web:;20.' Thereis a relatively narrow coplanar extension 22" at the right and a similar coplanar extension 24-att'h'e. left. These are in alignment with the bodyportion and each other. These extensions may be said to be 'pro'videdaat their respective outer ends with substantially H:-shaped members, each including a central junctional portion 26 anda pair of spaced parallel limbs;v Thelimbs are bent intermediate their ends on .thezfold lines 28- and when bent laterally down, as seen in Figure 4,; they define pairs of hold down fingers, all of which are denoted by the numerals 30. In otherwords there are two pairs of fingers which arespaced apart byithewconnecting portion 26 so that they may rest upon' and bridge overthe necessary partition edges and so that the. paired. and spaced pairs of fingers may straddle the part 3S1SliQWII in Figure 1 for retention purposes. The free ends of the fingers. are provided with sharpenedorinwardly bent anchoring prongs all of which areudenoted here-.by'the numerals 32. One manner in :which this1sim'ple:-type bracket isutilized is shown at the leftin Figure, l'wherein the H-s'haped finger-equi p ped. .p ortions providerpartitibna straddling and retaining clamps. In the illustration de' Inasmuch as this particular bracket in Figure 4 is fashioned from the blank seen in Figure 3, it seems both effective and proper to utilize the same reference numerals in both Figures 3 and 4, making it easier to realize the sequence of events in bending and shaping and also the cutting and production of the blank in Figure 3. It is to be added, however, that in Figure 3, the numeral 34 designates the fold line for bending the body portion into the aformentioned channel-shaped body portion.

With reference now to Figures 5 and 6, the cruciform flat sheet material blank is denoted by the numeral 36 and the finished multipurpose bracket which is fashioned therefrom is denoted by the numeral 38. The same principle of construction and mode of bending and fashioning into the finished product, already described, applies to these figures, as is evident.

With reference in particular toFigure 6, the readyto use or finished bracket is obviously characterized by four duplicate arms circumferentially spaced and radiating from a common center. Each arm is the same in construction and a description of one will suffice for all. To this end the intermediate portion of the arm is characterized by the aforementioned channel-shaped body portion having spaced parallel longitudinal flanges 40 and a connecting web 42. This is the so-called relatively wide portion comparable to that depicted in Figures 3 and 4. At the outer end thereof is a coplanar narrower attenuation or extension 44 which has an H-shaped formation as depicted in Figure 5 which is bent into a dual partition-straddling clamp. This H-shaped portion has spaced parallel limbs and a connecting member 46 therebetween. The limbs are bent upon themselves on brackets of Figures 4 and 6 and are to be construed accordingly.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a thin flat cruciform blank of bendable sheet material embodying complemental radial arms and each arm having a relatively wide portion and a relatively narrow coplanar extension at the outer end thereof, an H-shaped member at the outer end of said extension, the long limbs of said member having their respective outer ends cut to provide bendable anchoring prongs, said limbs being susceptible of being bent upon themselves midway between said outer ends to provide partition straddling and embracing fingers.

2. A beverage case repair bracket comprising a sheet material structure characterized by at least one body portion channel-shaped in cross section and embodying spaced parallel flanges and an intervening web connecting said flanges, a relatively narrow coplanar extension projecting from one end of said body portion and hav- 7 ing a clamp at its outer end embodying pairs of partithe fold line 48 to define two pairs of hold-down fingers, 1 r

all of the fingers in this form of the invention are denoted by the numerals 50 for simplification in numbering. The fingers are paired to do the straddling job seen in Figure 1 and they are lateral to the plane of the arm and extension 44 and have inturned or toed-in pointed anchoring prongs 52. At the hub portion of the blank as well as the finished product there are similar extensions 54 and here again these are of the H-shaped formation depicted in Figure 5 to provide additional clamping means made up of the pairs of fingers 56 and their inturned or toed-in pointed prongs 58. The reader may readily compare the blank 36 with the product 38 in Figures 5 and 6, respectively, and discover the relationship between the components thereof. Here again it is thought effective and proper to utilize the same numerals in these two figures since they are corresponding par-ts.

As has already been touched upon, the brackets constitute reliable and easy-to-use repair means capable of application without nails or equivalent fasteners by simply placing the clamping fingers in position and forcing the prongs into the surfaces of the partitions with the use of pliers. So one purpose of the invention is to reinforce an existing partition, side or end of a bottle case or box and another purpose is a nailless replacement or repair to a broken side, end or partition of a case or box. It is repeated that with the use of this invention one may restore the requisite storing and carrying falcilities to an otherwise unusable case, means being provided to bridge and span the space required to restore a missing cell. The construction is such that one bracket may be used over another to enable a series of reinforcements or repairs to be used together as extensions or at right angles to each other for the repair or reinforcement of adjoining sections or parts of the crate or case. The following claims, as will be obvious, are directed to both the blanks of Figures 3 and 5 and to the finished tion straddling and embracing fingers lateral to said extension, the respective pairs of fingers being spaced from each other and the fingers of each pair having pointed anchoringprongs directed inwardly toward each other, and a corresponding coplanar narrow extension at the other end of said body portion lined up with and complemental to said first named extension and also having a self-adapting clamp at its outer end embodying pairs of partition straddling and embracing fingers lateral to said extension, the respective pairs of fingers being spaced from each other and the fingers of each pair having pointed anchoring prongs directed inwardly toward each other.

3. A beverage case repair bracket comprising a bendable sheet material structure cruciform in plan and embodying a plurality of arms radiating from a common hub-like center, each arm embodying a median body portion channel-shaped in cross-section and embodying spaced parallel flanges and an intervening web connecting said flanges, a relatively narrow coplanar extension projecting from one end of said body portion and having a right angularly disposed self-adapting clamp at its its outer end, said clamp embodying pairs of partition straddling and embracing fingers lateral to said extension, and respective pairs of fingers being spaced from each other and located to the right and left of the lengthwise edges of said extension and the fingers of each pair having pointed anchoring prongs directed inwardly toward each other.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

